Fluid-translating system



May 28,1929; H, F, S HMIDT 1,715,011

FLUID TRANSLAI ING SYSTEM Filed July 24, 1925 H.F.$chmidf WITNESSES: INVENTOR r"! F .20 I W Wm ATTORNEY Patented May 28, 1929.

UNTTEE STATES naeu earner cri ics. r

HENRY IE. SCHMIDT, 0F LANSDOWNE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

FLUID-TRANSLATING SYSTEM.

Application'filed. July 24, 1825. SerialNo. 45,850.

My invention relates to fluid translating systems, particularly to-lubricating systems for rotating machinery such, for example, as steam turbines, and it has for an object to provide apparatus of the character designated which shall operate continuously and reliably without care and attention for extended periodsof time. provide a new and improved means for insuring, at all times, a positive and adequate supply of lubricating fluid at the required pressure to the system.

These and other objects, which will be made apparent throughout the further description of my invention, may be attained by the employment of the apparatus hereinafter'described angl illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. l is a view, in sectional elevation, of one form of fluid translating system arranged in accordance with my invention; and Fig. 2 is a view, in sectional elevation, taken on the line IT-II of Fig. l.

Lubricating systems for fluid motors, such as steam turbines, generally include provision for reclaiming the oil upon its being discharged froin the working parts of the machine, and they also provide for again circulating the reclaimed .oil through the system.

Normally, a reservoir is located at such a dis tance below the working parts of the machine as will insure free drainage of the oil thereto. As the rotary pump for circulating the lubricant takes its supply from the reservoir, it is usual to so locate it as to provide a positive drainage head from the reservoir to the pump, and as the pump is generally driven from the turbine shaft, this location necessitates the interposition of numerous gears, drive shafts,

etc, which complicated driving means havev hu'etofoi'e been frequently responsible for the failure of the circulating pump to function properly.

As a means of improving the reliability of lubricating systems, resort has sometimes been made to a method in which the pump is directly driven by the turbine shaft and said pump is required to lift the oil from the drainage reservoir, located some distance below. This method is hazardous, however, inasmuch as the pumps employed are necessarily of the high-speed rotary type, and the possibility of failure of the suction pressure because of air binding or numerous other causes is ever present. It is readily appreciated that a failure of the lubricating sys- It has for a further object to tem to function properly will cause serious damage to the turbine and its associated apparatus, if not stopped instantly. Furthermore, where the lubricating oil pump is employed to generate pressure for avfluid-actuated governor, it is especially desirable that its reliability be of the highest order.

My fluid translating system considerably improves the reliability of the source of supply. lft is so arranged that although the main lubricating oil pump is directly driven by the turbine shaft and isconsequently'lo. cated above the reservoir, nevertheless a positive head of lubricant is maintained upon the intake of the pump. 1 accomplish this result by providing an auxiliary pump which may be also directly driven by the turbine shaft and which is initially supplied with lubricant from the reservoir below by an oil ring or similar structure. The auxiliary pump is thus capable of discharging sufficient lubricant to actuate an ejector which is preferably immersed in the lubricant contained in the reservoirand which discharges a substantial quantity of lubricant to the inlet of the main pump as well as to the inlet of the auxiliary pump. In this way, the system is supplied with the required amount of lubricant at the proper pressure at all times, inasmuch as the main pump is directly driven by the turbine shaft and is supplied from the reservoir be low by the ejector with a constant quantity of lubricant.

Referring to the drawing for a more detailed description of my invention, I show in Fig. 1 a rotatable shaft 10 whichxmay be associated with any form of apparatus but which in the present instance is designated, for example, as the-rotor shaft of a steam turbine. Provided on the shaft. 10 is a main impeller 11 and an auxiliary impeller 12. As shown in Fig. 2, the impellers 11 and 12 are each provided with. a hub portion 13, which is secured to the shaft 10, and with radially disposed impelling vanes 14. l/Vhile T have shown the impellers l1 and 12 as being provided with vanes radiating straight from the center, it is obvious that these impelling vauesmay be curved or convoluted or assume any one of the various forms of propelling vanes which are well-known in the pump art. The impellers 11 and 12 are provided with respective casings 15 and 16 which are associated with a turbine casing 1'7. The impeller casings 15 and 16 are shown has in cylindrical form although these may, if desired, be shaped in the form of volutes as is generally done' in large centrifugal pumping apparatus.

Disposed adjacent to the auxiliary impeller casing 16 is an oil ring 18 which carried'on the shaft and which extends downwardly into a reservoir 19 which is disposed at a sufficient distance below the shaft '10 to insure free drainage of lubricant from thevarious working parts (not shown) of the turbine and its associated apparatus. The lubricant discharged by the oil ring 18 is delivered to a receptacle21 which encircles the lower half of the shaft 10 and which communicates with the inner periphery of the auxiliary impeller 12. The auxiliary casing 16 is provided with an outlet or discharge 22 which connects, through a conduit 23,

I. with a pressure chamber 24 arranged in the lower portion of the reservoir 19. Provided in the pressurechamber 24 is a nozzle 25 and arranged coaxially with the nozzle 25 is a diffuser 2G. The nozzle 25 and the diffuser 26 form an ejector 27 for removing lubricant from the reservoir 19. The broad idea of utilizingan ejector employing oil as motive fluid in this connection is disclosed in a copending application of mine serially numbered 688,292, filed Jan. 24, 1924, (Patent 1,627,750, issued May 10, 1927), entitled Lubricating system and assigned to the West.- inghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company. The nozzle 25 and the diili'user 1 are so arranged in the reservoir 19 as to be disposed below the level of the lubricant contained therein as indicated at 28.

The difiuser 26 connects through a conduit 29 with a supply reservoir 31 which, in the present embodiment, is arranged in the turbine casing 17. The supply reservoir 31 is provided with an outlet 32 for supply-.

ing lubricant to an inlet 33 arranged in the casing 15 of the main impeller 11. The sup ply reservoir 31 is also provided with a connection 34 which is located directly above the receptacle 21 of the auxiliary casing 16, for supplying lubricant to the auxiliary im peller 12. The casing 15 of the main impeller 11 is provided with an outlet 35 which 7 may be connected through a suitable conduit 36 to the various working parts of the turbine and its assoclated apparatus as well as the governor of the turbine, whlle the return of the lubricant from these parts may be accomplished through a drainage conduit 37 communicating with the drainage reservoir 19. A connection 41 may be pro vided in the conduit 29 for permitting the ejector 27 to discharge directly to the various working parts of the turbine such as the bearings, etc. I v

The operation of the above embodiment of my invention is as follows: Assuming the drainage reservoir 19 and the supply reservoir 31 to be filled with a level of lubricant such as indicated at 28 and 39 respectively, the rotation of the turbine shaft 10 actuates the oil ring 18 causing it to raise or convey lubricant from the drainage reservoir 19 upwardly and to spill the same into the receptacle 21, thereby priming the auxiliary impeller 12. The auxiliary impeller discharges this lubricant, in the manner of a centrifugal pump, to the conduit 23 and the pressure chamber 24 until the pressure prevailing within the latter is suflicient to'actuate the ejector 27. Oil is then discharged through the nozzle 25 and entrains a relatively large quantity of the oil contained in the drainage reservoir 19 and discharges it upwardly through the conduit 29 to the supply reservoir 31. A quantity of the oil discharged by the ejector may, if desired, be conveyedthrou h the branch 41 to various working parts of t 1e turbine, such as the bearings, etc. 7

The lubricant contained in the supply reservoir 31 drains downwardly through the outlet 32 and enters the casing 15 of the main impeller 11 through the inlet 33. This oil is'acted upon by the impeller 11 which normally discharges the same at a pressure of, for example, 50 pounds per square inch to the conduit 36, after which it may be utilized in a fluid pressure operated governor for controlling the speed of the turbine. As the main impeller 11 is directly connected to. the turbine rotor 10, it develops a fluid pressure which varies directly as the square of the speed of the turbine and hence the fluid pressure thus developed may be readily utilized for governing purposes.

The capacity of the ejector 27 is such that it is capable of supplying a quantity of lu-- bricant in excess of the requirementsof the main impeller 11 and this excess lubricant overflows through the connection 34 to the receptacle 21 for supplying lubricant to the auxiliary impeller 12. This supply is, of course, somewhat augn'iented by the relative- 1y smaller quantity of lubricant supplied by the oil, ring 18. Lubricant discharged from the various working parts of the apparatus as Well as from the governor may be returned to the drainage reservoir 19 through the conduit 37, after whichit may be again utilized in the system.

From the foregoing it willbe apparent that I have devised a novel systemjor supplying lubricant to the governor and to the working parts of such apparatus as steamturbines. My system. is so arranged that the main impeller develops a fluid pressure which varies as a function of the speed of the turbine and hence may be readily utilized for governing purposes. The reliability of the main impeller is assured inasmuch as it is directly driven by the turbine shaft and is at all times supplied with an adequate quantity of lubricant from the reservoir by the ejector. As

the latter type of apparatus has no moving or wearing parts, its operation is solely dependent upon the supply of motive fluid discharged by the auxiliary impeller. The auxiliary impeller being arranged directly on the turbine shaft and being supplied with lubricant from the ring oiler as well as from the ejector, it is apparent that the reliability of operation of my entire fluid translating system is of the very highest order.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications, without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

-What I claim is:

1. In a fluid translating system, the combination of a rotatable shaft, a pump driven by the shaft and discharging fluid to the system, an ejector, a second pump driven by the shaft for developing a fluid pressure for actuating the ejector, said ejector discharging fluid to the inlets of the respective pumps,.and a conveyer operated by said shaft for priming the second pump.

2. In a fluid translating system, the combination of a rotatable shaft, a pump provided on the shaft for developing a fluid pres sure which varies as a function of the speed of the shaft, a reservoir disposed below the shaft, and second pump provided on the shaft for developing a fluid pressure for actuating the ejector, said ejector being arranged to remove fluid from the reservoir and to discharge it to the system and to the inlet of the first and second pumps, and an oil ring for conveying fluid from the reservoir to the inlet of the second pump.

3. In a fluid translating system, the combination of a rotatable shaft, a main pump provided on the shaft for discharging fluid to the system, an auxiliary pump provided on the shaft for supplying fluid to the inlet of the main pump, a reservoir disposed below the shaft, and a ring rotated by the shaft for raising fluid from the reservoir to the inlet of the auxiliary pump.

4. In a lubricant translating system, the combination of a turbine shaft, a main pump provided on the shaft for discharging lubri cant to the system, an auxiliary pump provided on the shaft for supplying lubricant to the main pump, a lubricant reservoir disposed below the turbine shaft, and a ring oiler provided on the turbine shaft for raising lubricant from the reservoir to the inlet of the auxiliary pump.

' 5. In a fluid translating system, the combination of a main pump for discharging fluid pressure to the system, a reservoir disposed above the main pump for supplying fluid thereto, an auxiliary pump for conveying fluid to the reservoir, a secondreservoir disposed below the auxiliary pump, and a conveyor for raising fluid from said second reservoir to the inlet of the low pressure pump. j

6. In a fluid translating system, the combination of a main pump for discharging fluid pressure to the system, a reservoir disposed above the main pump for supplying fluid thereto, an overflow connection provided in the reservoir, an auxiliary pump for conveying fluid to the reservoir, and a communicating means provided between the overflow connection and the inlet of the low pressure pump.

7. In a fluid translating system, the combination of a turbine shaft, a main pump provided on the shaft and discharging fluid to the system, a reservoir disposed above the pump for supplying fluid thereto, an overflow connection provided in the reservoir, a

reservoir containing fluid disposed below the turbine shaft, an ejector for raising fluid from the reservoir disposed below the shaft to the reservoir disposed above the shaft, an auxiliary pump provided on the turbine shaft for developing fluid pressure for actuating the ejector, a ring located upon the shaft for rais ing fluid from the reservoir disposed below the shaft to the inlet of the auxiliary pump, and communicating means provided between the overflow connection and the inlet of the auxiliary pump.

8. In a fluid translating system, the combination of a horizontal rotatable shaft, a pump including a rotatable member mounted on the shaft and discharging fluid to the system, a fluid reservoir disposed at a level below the shaft, an ejector arranged to entrain fluid from the reservoir, a second pump driven by the shaft for developing a fluid pressure for actuating the ejector, said ejector discharging fluid to the inlet of the first-mentioned pump, and a conveyor operated by said shaft for priming the second pump.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this fourteenth day of July, 1 925.

HENRY F. SCHMIDT. 

